Cognos 8 Business Intelligence

Cognos 8 Business Intelligence is a major player in BI and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) markets. Cognos 8 provides a full range of dimensional and relational reporting, deep comparative analysis, active scorecards and dashboards, event lifecycle management, and data integration -- on a single Web services-based Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

One feature that sets Cognos apart from its competitors is its integration on a Web-based SOA with an open data strategy as opposed to a Web-based interface masking outdated, legacy services. Cognos 8's single BI standard consolidates and simplifies BI reporting and analysis process.

Some other unique features include:

• Centralized metadata
• Data structure independent user interfaces
• Out-of-the-box scorecard tracking of initiatives
• All capabilities are OLAP/relational data sources agnostic
• Browser-based interface

Judges for this category noted, "Cognos plays a prominent role in the BI and CPM suite markets. Its strength remains the combination of its CPM applications and its BI capabilities."

A typical Cognos 8 BI deployment pricing scenario, based on a BI standardization agenda, is outlined below:

• 150 BI Consumers
• 15 Business Authors
• 15 Business Analysts
• 10 Business Managers
• 5 BI Professionals
• 2 BI Administrators

At list price, the fee for this configuration would be in the $220,000 range. This fee includes first year support and maintenance.